"Oil rights in Salonga National Park could be null and void, Global Witness analysis reveals", 1 février 2019

Global Witness reveals that an opaque Guernsey-owned company’s oil rights threatening a protected national park in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could be null and void, according to our legal analysis. In February 2018, Guernsey-owned oil company CoMiCo won approval for a contract originally signed in 2007, under a previous version of the oil law...one of the three oil blocks assigned to CoMiCo encroaches on DRC’s Salonga National Park, the largest protected tropical rainforest in Africa and a UNESCO-protected World Heritage Site. Global Witness’s legal analysis of the contract and the oil law indicates that rather than give CoMiCo a long-awaited green light for oil exploration, the presidential ordinance signed in February 2018 may have rendered CoMiCo’s contract void...

“President Tshisekedi and his administration must seize the opportunity to improve upon the record of the previous government by enforcing strict adherence to Congolese law in natural resource deals, especially in terms of transparency around contracts and the real beneficiaries behind natural resource companies,” said Peter Jones, Campaign Leader at Global Witness...“According to our legal assessment the contract could be considered void, meaning CoMiCo should not pursue oil exploration in its blocks,” said Jones. “Any attempt to go ahead under this contract would set a dangerous precedent as the government appears to have disregarded its own laws,” continued Jones...

“Oil exploration in Salonga National Park could have a devastating impact on the park’s integrity, its biodiversity and the local communities living off its resources,” said Jones. “Salonga is home to 40 percent of the world’s remaining bonobo population and several other rare and endangered species, and plays a fundamental role in averting climate breakdown. It is vital that Felix Tshisekedi’s administration affirms DRC’s commitment to environmental protection,” he added.

CoMiCo’s lawyer disagreed with Global Witness’ interpretation of the contract’s terms and the DRC legal framework, calling the analysis “clearly wrong”. He rejected the invalidity of the contract and argued that the stabilisation clause contained in the contract “takes effect with respect to the conditions in force as of 2007”.

Global Witness is calling on the new Congolese government to review CoMiCo’s contract in light of the questions raised by our legal analysis.